Mohammed Jamil Farsi, a prominent Saudi Arabian jewelry tycoon, made an impassioned plea to the investment minister at a meeting of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce this month. “I don’t know anything about economics but I beg you, and I beg the officials in the country, not to sell Aramco – not 5 percent, not 1 percent,” he said. Investment minister Majed al-Qasabi replied the economy would benefit from the sale of shares in national oil giant Saudi Aramco. It is expected to be the world’s largest initial public offer, raising tens of billions of dollars. But Farsi’s plea underlined misgivings among substantial parts of the public and the business community about the sale. […]